New CRO at the helm for the UWSA’s 2017 by-election

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If there’s been a “thankless job” at the UWSA the past few years, it’s got to be the Chief Returning Officer (CRO), the person who manages the students’ alliance’s elections.

Heading into the 2017 by-election there’s yet another CRO in place, University of Windsor student Sara Alshoibi.

According to the UWSA’s job description, the CRO “will ensure that all University of Windsor Students’ Alliance elections are organized and managed in a manner that is fair, unbiased and non-partisan and that all members of the UWSA are aware of the elections, the nomination periods, and the election results”.

Alshoibi says she has the credentials to do this: “I have a degree in Psychology and a degree in Sociology and I am pursuing my third in Education. I have worked in Communications for the City of Windsor for a little over a year now. And I have done the UWSA elections as Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) last year.”

As DRO Alshoibi did “a lot of the physical work, just day-to-day work and getting know the job and learning how things work,” and she’s not feeling extra pressure following the problems with the last election, she says. “No, I’m not, I have what I have in front of me in terms of the bylaws and the elections policy, and as long as I follow those, it is pretty standard.”

In regards to social media, it “is the only space you can keep campaigning after the elections start,” says UWSA General Manager, Maria Hamilton. All other campaigning must stop once voting begins. But social media is monitored throughout the entire election period by the CRO for bullying and harassment among other potential bylaw infractions.

The All Candidates Meeting will be held on October 16th before the campaign period kicks off on the 18th. At the meeting, every candidate will be made aware of the campaigning rules. Online voting for full-time undergraduate students takes place on October 25th and 26th with the results party to follow.

If anyone is unable to vote online Hamilton says the students’ alliance will make accommodations. “This election is about all UWSA students. Our objective is to make sure it is a fair and ethical election and as many students have as much information as possible.”

The positions available:

President (1)

First Year Representative (1)

Board of Governors’ Representative (1)

Faculty of Computer Science Representative (1)

Faculty of Music Representative (1)

Faculty of Education Representative (1)

Faculty of Social Work Representative (1)

Faculty of Visual Arts Representative (1)

Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry Representative (1)

Human Kinetics Representative (1)

Odette School of Business Representatives (2)

Senator (1)

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the UWSA 2017 by-election you can contact Sara Alshoibi at crouwsa@uwindsor.ca.